Charlotte's Web, Written by E.B.

Charlotte's Web, written by E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White in 1952, has long been loved by children of all ages. The book has been published in many different styles with varying illustrations and also in animation and, most recently, as a feature film. Although a child's book, the themes are as important for adults: love, friendship, death as a part of life, parenting, and heroism. A couple of plots are going on at the same time at a family farm. One concerns the daughter named Fern.

When a pig gives birth, Fern's father says that he will do away with the runt of litter. Fern persuades her father to let him live and the two of them form a strong, loving relationship. When he grows larger, Wilbur is sent to Homer Zuckerman, a farmer down the road. Fern visits Wilbur regularly. However, they soon realize what happens to pigs when they reach their optimum size. Wilbur will be killed for someone's bacon.

The second plot revolves around the friendship that Wilbur forms with the spider, Charlotte, who lives in the barn. Wilbur is very afraid of being butchered, so Charlotte promises to find a solution. She works hard all night and spins a wonderful web that says, "Some Pig." Wilbur becomes very famous as all the barn animals help Charlotte come up with other sayings for the web.

The most important one is "Humble," for "proud" and "low to the ground." He receives a special medal for being the best pig at the country fair and is saved from being butchered. Meanwhile, Charlotte is getting ready to give birth. Charlotte dies and Wilbur takes her egg sac to watch over. Finally, the small spiders start crawling out of the sac. Then, one morning, they blew away in the wind to start their own lives.

As noted above, there have been many different versions of Charlotte's Web over the years. The cover of the first book, illustrated by Garth Williams, is well-known by children, parents and teachers. The book is written for an older reader, and is not a story book. However, many parents read the story to their children, when they are young cannot yet read. The original illustrations have become "dated" by today's standards, but are still wonderful in their detail.

Some children who are five or six can begin to read this story, but it is appropriate for seven- through nine-year-olds to read it as well. Parents should help for the vocabulary, which is sometimes difficult and also dated. The themes, such as friendship and especially death should be discussed. The vocabulary is very technical, with words like "Frigidaire," "phoebe" "interlude," "control," and "salutations," make it slow reading for a young child without help from a parent or teacher.

The same is true for the concepts discussed,."..do you realize that if I didn't catch bugs and eat them, bugs would increase and multiply and get so numerous that they'd destroy the earth, wipe out everything..." and.". It also is important to talk with the children about the sadness they feel when Charlotte dies. She has been a good friend to Wilbur and he, in return, takes care of her eggs who are a type of "rebirth" for Charlotte.

The best approach for younger children is to read the story to them and stop and explain any new words or concepts. Older children, in third and fourth grade, can read the book and discuss some of the more difficult themes. The idea is to incorporate the book into the world around the children, as Wolf (2004, p. 11) states: "When we take up literature in multiple ways, through who we.